kescusay
@kescusay@lemmy.world
Developer and refugee from Reddit
- Comment on What I learned from 3 years of running Windows 11 on “unsupported” PCs 3 weeks ago:
Not many, but plenty use various corporate applications that are Windows-only.
- Comment on What I learned from 3 years of running Windows 11 on “unsupported” PCs 3 weeks ago:
It’s some kind of locked-down version of GlobalProtect that’s integrated with a TPM module to prevent machines that aren’t running our corporate image on corporate-approved laptops from being able to connect.
There’s probably some kind of workaround, but I’m lazy and it’s easier just to power up the Windows machine now and then.
- Comment on What I learned from 3 years of running Windows 11 on “unsupported” PCs 3 weeks ago:
I only ever use Windows on my work computer, and only when I need access to a resource that requires our Windows-only VPN.
But seriously, “just use linux” is worthless advice. Lots of people use Windows for specific applications that don’t exist in the Linux ecosystem. For example, there are no Linux applications that come close to AutoCAD, and it simply doesn’t work on Linux.
Better advice would be to get new (or newer used) hardware if possible, if you absolutely need to use Windows, since this workaround will inevitably be “corrected” by Microsoft. Then you can do whatever you like with the old hardware, such as install and learn Linux at your own pace.
- Comment on Ladies and Gentlemen, the sate of AI. 2 months ago:
The best thing about this is that it’s also on the x-axis.
- Comment on The World's Future: How Artificial Intelligence And Humans Collaboration In Shaping Tomorrow 2 months ago:
Headline and all content clearly generated by AI, and entirely lacking in substance.
- Comment on All Windows users should immediately update their computers. An exploit rated 9.8/10 (CVE-2024-38063) compromises all devices running Windows with an IPv6 address. 2 months ago:
You run Arch and move on.
(Am I doing this right?)
- Comment on Microsoft points finger at the EU for not being able to lock down Windows 3 months ago:
Nope. It’s a lower level kernel API that has to be accessed at boot via a driver. The API I was thinking of - and I use the term “thinking” loosely, here - is an API that userspace applications can take advantage of to scan files after boot is already complete.
- Comment on Microsoft points finger at the EU for not being able to lock down Windows 3 months ago:
I stand corrected. For some reason, I was thinking they used the actual Windows Defender API, which can be called programmatically from third-party applications, but you’re correct, it was a driver loaded at boot. Microsoft isn’t at all at fault, here.
- Comment on Microsoft points finger at the EU for not being able to lock down Windows 3 months ago:
The thing is, Microsoft’s virus-scanning API shouldn’t be able to BSOD anything, no matter what third-party software makes calls to it, or the nature of those calls. They should have implemented some kind of error handler for when the calls are malformed.
So this is really a case of both Crowdstrike and Microsoft fucking up. Crowdstrike shoulders most of the blame, of course, but Microsoft really needs to harden their API to appropriately catch errors, or this will happen again.
- Comment on An angry admin shares the CrowdStrike outage experience 3 months ago:
Seems like an argument for a heterogeneous environment, perhaps a solid and secure Linux server to host important keys like that.
- Comment on AI is like a hammer 4 months ago:
I mean, I guess the way people use the term “AI” these days, sure, but we’re really beating all specificity out of the term.
- Comment on AI is like a hammer 4 months ago:
Software developer, here.
It’s not actually AI. A large language model is essentially autocomplete on steroids. Very useful in some contexts, but it doesn’t “learn” the way a neutral network can. When you’re feeding corrections into, say, ChatGPT, you’re making small, temporary, cached adjustments to its data model, but you’re not actually teaching it anything, because by its nature, it can’t learn.
I’m not trying to diss LLMs, by the way. Like I said, they can be very useful in some contexts. I use Copilot to assist with coding, for example. Don’t want to write a bunch of boilerplate code? Copilot is excellent for speeding that process up.
- Comment on Chips could harvest their own energy using a newly-created alloy 4 months ago:
The way I see it, every little bit helps. If even a little of the waste heat can be recaptured as electricity for operation, it’s a good thing unless the conversion itself has a higher energy cost, and from what I can tell, that’s not the case with this technique.
- Comment on Tesla’s Share of U.S. Electric Car Market Falls Below 50% 4 months ago:
At this point, I’m not sure why anyone would actually buy a Tesla. The alternatives are far less expensive, the “features” of a Tesla are unpolished and dangerous, and the money doesn’t go to a megalomaniac with a god complex.
- Comment on Microsoft has gone too far: including a Game Pass ad in the Settings app ushers in a whole new age of ridiculous over-advertising 4 months ago:
Ah. Yeah, I don’t know of a way to get ACC on Linux.
- Comment on Microsoft has gone too far: including a Game Pass ad in the Settings app ushers in a whole new age of ridiculous over-advertising 4 months ago:
Regarding Linux, what commercial software are you dependent on? More and more, it’s all online, even Office.
- Comment on Microsoft has gone too far: including a Game Pass ad in the Settings app ushers in a whole new age of ridiculous over-advertising 4 months ago:
Sysadmin? You haven’t needed to be a sysadmin to run Linux for years.
- Comment on Microsoft Account to local account conversion guide erased from official Windows 11 guide — instructions redacted earlier this week 4 months ago:
It’s incredibly short-sighted of them. Windows is the gateway to easy integration, especially with 365. Drive people away from Windows, it could ultimately start driving people away from Microsoft services.
If Microsoft would just recognize that at this point, operating systems are a commodity and loss-leader, it might inspire them to de-enshittify Windows and focus exactly on the services you mentioned.
- Comment on Microsoft Account to local account conversion guide erased from official Windows 11 guide — instructions redacted earlier this week 4 months ago:
When was the last time you used it? These days, VS Code is on par with any high-quality IDE. And it works well on Linux, which is a bit of a surprise.
- Comment on Microsoft Account to local account conversion guide erased from official Windows 11 guide — instructions redacted earlier this week 4 months ago:
Microsoft has become such a bizarre company. On the one hand, it’s trying to be super developer-friendly, with tools like Typescript, VS Code, and DotNet Core being easy to use and multi-platform. On the other hand, they seem hell-bent on making Windows itself - their bread-and-butter offering - as hard to use and annoying as possible.
It just doesn’t make any sense.
- Comment on Microsoft is testing Game Pass ads on the Windows 11 Settings homepage 6 months ago:
Maybe they’re making more money now from ads shown in pirated copies of Windows than they do from actually selling Windows.
- Comment on Microsoft is testing Game Pass ads on the Windows 11 Settings homepage 6 months ago:
I wasn’t gonna say it, but yeah… I’ve been using Linux exclusively on my personal systems for more than 10 years. Every time I have to use Windows, it’s almost physically painful. How the hell do people put up with that crap?
- Comment on Microsoft is testing Game Pass ads on the Windows 11 Settings homepage 6 months ago:
Ethically, if not legally, this is terrible, as are all other steps Microsoft has taken to force ads onto your computer.
Seriously, think about it. You own the hardware, right? And the OS is present to run the hardware, right? To do that, it needs to be able to perform various tasks without your specific approval, and that’s fine, but using your bandwidth to download advertisements in the background, then using your computing cycles to force them in front of your eyes regardless of what you’re using the computer for, is awfully questionable. I would go so far as to say it’s a form of theft.
And no, ads on websites aren’t comparable. You, the user, are actively opting to view a web page that carries ads. You are choosing to grant them access to your eyeballs and the resources used by your browser. But nobody is actively seeking to view ads through their operating systems, and they don’t get anything in return (such as the content you went to that website for).
- Comment on Using Ubuntu may give off a hipster vibes to the average PC user, but within the Linux community its has the opposite effect. 6 months ago:
Arch Linux user here to say… Ubuntu’s fine, man. Love all the derivatives that can take advantage of the core Ubuntu system (e.g., Mint, which I’ve installed for family members).
I love Arch. I use it all the time. I will not inflict it on any family members.
- Comment on Republicans are pulling out all the stops to reverse EV adoption 6 months ago:
What the actual fuck is wrong with Republican politicians? I mean, I already know what’s wrong with Republican voters - brainwashing by years of Fox “News” - but the politicians? Are they all actual, literal sociopaths?
- Comment on Your body is completely dark except for the 1 molecule outside layer that light hits. 6 months ago:
If you count light outside of the human visible spectrum, it’s bright pretty much everywhere. Like, getting away from light requires specially constructed facilities.
- Comment on Windows 10 will start pushing users to use Microsoft accounts. How to turn it off. 6 months ago:
I’d say that depends a lot on what you want it to do. Are you looking for a very simple and easy desktop experience? Go with Ubuntu or one of its many derivatives. Do you pine for the glory days of RedHat? Go with fedora. Do you want maximal control over every facet of your computer? Arch.
- Comment on VPN by Google One is shutting down for good 7 months ago:
I’ve never even heard of it. They sure weren’t putting their VPN front and center.
- Comment on Microsoft starts testing ads in the Windows 11 Start menu 7 months ago:
I mean, yeah, a few, but there are plenty with Windows too, and the overwhelming majority of games I’ve tried it with work fine.
- Comment on Microsoft starts testing ads in the Windows 11 Start menu 7 months ago:
Well, of course. I mean it’s not like you paid for a Microsoft Windows license when you bought your computer, so obviously they have to advertise to financially support it. If you’re getting something for free, you’re the product.
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Wait, I’m being told that when people buy computers with Windows installed, they are, in fact, paying for a Windows license, too.
So this is actually Microsoft trying to turn products they’ve already sold into continuous revenue streams at the cost of usability and customer happiness.
In other news, apropos of nothing in particular, Steam on Linux is working really well these days, with lots of AAA titles running just fine via Proton. Make of that what you will…